Continental is strengthening its software operations with a New Development Centre in Chongqing, China.
“With this step, we are programming our organisation for increased growth in China as the world’s largest automotive market,” said Continental CEO, Nikolai Setzer.
“The key to success there is local value creation, which we are constantly increasing. Roughly one in ten Continental employees currently works in China and they will be joined by a low triple-digit number of software and IT experts at our new development centre by the end of 2021.”
“We are at the forefront when it comes to software, employing around 20,000 software and IT specialists worldwide and operating our own software academy. With the addition of Chongqing, we are further consolidating our global network of development centres and gaining more expertise.”
Vehicles of the future are intelligent and smart in that their components, systems and programs communicate with each other; constantly, quickly and securely. To do so, they must have a high degree of connectivity and automation, which is increasingly being made possible by versatile software applications.
According to forecasts by a consulting firm, global automotive software sales will multiply from US$20bn in 2019 to US$50bn in 2030 and China will be the largest market, accounting for around 34% of electronics and software revenue.
The technologies developed in China by Continental are embedded in driver assistance systems, for example. They also control high-performance computers and vehicle architectures and enable end-to-end connectivity of vehicle systems.
“In China, speed is paramount,” added Continental China president and CEO, Enno Tang. “With our local development centre for software and systems, we are driving future mobility in the country.
“It will allow us to act even more flexibly and shorten our route to customers, with whom we will bring automotive trends to Chinese roads even faster. In this way, we will help them to stay ahead of their competitors with our pioneering, innovative technologies.”
Intelligent, connected vehicles have become a key component of the automotive industry, especially in China. Continental is therefore increasingly driving the local transformation of electrical and electronic (E/E architecture) to a modern, open mobility architecture.
“Continental is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year and has been active in the Chinese market for 26 years,” said Tang.
“We have achieved remarkable results here. The new development centre is part of our strategy to further increase value creation in China. This is how we will ensure growth in the Chinese market in the long term.”
https://www.continental.com/en/press/press-releases/new-development-center-in-china/